Two venerable Edmonton institutions, almost as old as the city they serve, are deepening their century-old alliance with a five-year memorandum of understanding aimed at boosting community learning and research innovation.<\/p>\n
In a signing ceremony held at the Stanley A. Milner Library, Pilar Martinez, CEO of the Edmonton Public Library (EPL)<\/a>, and Bill Flanagan, president and vice-chancello<\/a>r of the University of Alberta, formalized a framework between their respective institutions designed to expand experiential learning for students, ignite joint research and bring university expertise more directly into public spaces.<\/p>\n \u201cThis partnership aims to bring together the university\u2019s academic and research expertise with the library\u2019s deep community roots. Our students get real experience in a public setting, and Edmontonians get more direct access to what\u2019s happening at the university,\u201d says Flanagan.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will help ensure the work happening at the university doesn\u2019t stay confined to campus. EPL gives us a way to do that at scale, and we’re glad to make that commitment formal.\u201d<\/p>\n This new chapter in an ongoing tale of city-building will scale up joint efforts to better blend services. This includes the popular \u201cL-Pass\u201d system, which grants U of A students and staff seamless access to the library\u2019s vast public collections.<\/p>\n Pilar Martinez, CEO of EPL, says the two organizations share a commitment to lifelong learning, knowledge sharing and community engagement.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis MOU builds on a longstanding relationship and creates new opportunities to learn from one another and collaborate,\u201d says Martinez. \u201cWe look forward to expanding our collaboration through work-integrated learning placements, research opportunities, creative projects and other initiatives.\u201d<\/p>\n The new framework aims to rapidly scale up existing collaborations. Notably, the U of A Museums<\/a> portfolio recently transformed its Echoes of Thunder exhibition into a massive digital experience tailored for the two-storey interactive digital wall at the Stanley A. Milner Library<\/a>. The university has supported interactive programming for this digital installation on topics ranging from astrophysics to mountains, which are also the subject of online on-demand courses via the U of A<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2017, the Faculty of Native Studies<\/a> partnered with the Edmonton Public Library to expand the reach of the Indigenous Canada online course<\/a> by connecting learners with public events, resources and support across Edmonton.<\/p>\n Other current initiatives under the umbrella include cross-organizational knowledge sharing and the highly popular community speaker series, such as Cancer Unmasked and Conversations With the Department of Neuroscience.<\/p>\n Looking forward, the agreement places significant emphasis on work-integrated learning, giving students across all faculties access to new internships, capstone projects and volunteer opportunities within the library network.<\/p>\n